Happy Mother's Day

I hope all of you Moms out there had a wonderful
Mother's Day today!

Here is what I hope you got to do ....
relax and enjoy your day!

Detail of watercolor painting by Winslow Homer, 1877.

Flow Blue Earthenware

You have your collectible blue and white china, which is lovely and dates from the 1820's, and then you have flow blue china, which began in the same region of Staffordshire, England. The term "flow blue" comes from the blue glaze that blurred or "flowed" during the firing process. This gives an entirely different look than the "non flowing" blue and white, but both are beautiful in their own right and would compliment any cottage style decorating scheme.




Here is an example of regular blue and white:


Non-flowing Blue Willow bowl made in England.





Flow blue earthenware comes in all shapes and sizes, from dinnerware pieces to large jardinieres on stands. Here is an example of a flow blue chamber pot ~ this one was made in Burslem, England about 1900 by Ford and Sons.




Flow blue chamber pot at Hourglass Antiques & Collectibles.







The most ubiquitous pieces are the dinnerware shapes. This 5.25 inch pitcher is six-sided with twelve embossed panels. It has an Oriental motif with a pagoda, a willow tree with twisting trunk, a ship, and distant mountains.

This pitcher dates from about 1860.

Flow blue Oriental theme pitcher at Hourglass Antiques & Collectibles. 








Here are two platters, one is in the "Non-Pareil" pattern by Burgess & Leigh, England, and is decorated with only a little white showing. Date of manufacture is about 1891.

Burgess & Leigh flow blue platter at Hourglass Antiques & Collectibles. 







The second platter has a beautiful floral pattern, but only in the center and around the edge. It is also a wonderful example of American flow blue. It's from the Mercer Pottery Co. of Trenton, N.J. and is in the "Luzerne" pattern, circa 1868.



"Luzerne" flow blue platter at Houglass Antiques & Collectibles.

I can easily visualize this pattern in a cottage style home! 




Decorating Note:  Plates and platters can come out of the china cabinet and go on a wall. Bedrooms especially look well, decorated in this way.

There are many reference books on flow blue china and I recommend buying one before starting a collection. The value of a piece depends on many things, such as the pattern, the maker, the shape, and so on. Beware of reproductions! A good reference guide will also include a list of reproduced patterns and tips to avoid purchasing them.

Happy St. Paddy's Day to all!!

Here's an Irish toast to go with your green beer:

Many blessings to cheer you, 

Each day the year through,

And the luck of the Irish 

In all that you do!

Greeting card image courtesy of :
Vintage Everyday Images

Enter to win the National Craft Month 2014 Grand Prize Giveaway!
  
.... with prizes from Red Heart yarn, Plaid Enterprises, Leisure Arts, Marvy Uchida, Sizzix, Simplicity, DOW STYROFOAM, MD Building Products, I Love to Create, Polyform, Craft Attitude, Ecstasy Crafts, American Quilter's Society, Fiskars, Curious.com, Krylon, Xyron, Jimmy Beans Wool, and Prime Publishing, LLC. You have until March 31 at midnight to enter!

Enter the National Craft Month 2014 Grand Prize Giveaway

Here are some cottage style antiques from my Hourglass Antiques & Collectibles shops. This week I'm showcasing some vintage textiles ....

This wonderful hand-hooked rug with bold multi-colored flowers has a blue and white blocks strip with a brown border. Made with cotton fabric strips, it has a burlap backing. Size: 26¾ x 38 inches. 

Vintage Hand Hooked Floral Rug 

A vintage potholder pair from the 1930's. Crocheted in ecru and red in a flower shape, they each have a ring for hanging.














These two doilies are crocheted in a color-changing yarn in bright pastels.

This is a lovely quilt in a variation  

of the 'Nine Patch' pattern. 
  

Predominant

colors are

blues, greens,

& pink, all

on a white 

ground. On all 

four sides is a 

'saw tooth' edging. 

This quilt was 

machine pieced 

and hand quilted.

Check out the Etsy Cottage Style blog ~ Market Monday (which runs 24/7).  It's "a virtual flea market of arts, crafts, antiques, and more". Each item shown has a link to it's place on the internet.  Browse and shop 'til your heart's content!

Market Monday ~ Etsy Cottage Style Blog 

Cottage Garden Ideas

Spring is "just around the corner" as we all say, so here are some interesting garden ideas from some very creative posts on social and other sites around the country ....

This is a great idea for sprucing up a birdbath. These are vintage insulators which make a colorful perch for birds when grouped together.  You can find them in green and other colors, but they're most common in clear and blue.

These insulators used to be seen in great quantity atop the telephone lines crisscrossing the country, and can still be found doing their job in long stretches of open road.   

A lot of bird species have been
photographed at this particular birdbath, but others like to visit when no one's looking.  For more images, including lots of bird species getting their bath on, visit:
Flea Market Gardening


 
Isn't this the lovliest garden idea? ~ using an old wagon to gather dried flowers.  It's a beautiful soft shade of, what else, lavender!  You could also plant it with a mix of flowers types, such as short and tall, colors and greenery, etc.  

I found this photo at a intensely inspirational FaceBook page:   Vintage Bohemian 





Or .... go with tall and overflowing in a vintage wheel-barrow.  It's nice the way the gardener put a gravel foundation in the same form below it.

This pic is from  the DIY Network   




Although there's nothing vintage in this one, it still grabs at my heart strings.  It's just plain dreamy!
  
Lon ny Magazine



So start planting those seeds now for a  bloomin' gorgeous Spring!